The 12 Worst Trains of Christmas

Metra Dec. 2015

Jan. 13, 2016 | By Michael Schmitt

For some holiday "fun," let's take a look at the worst performing trains across each of Metra's 11 lines in December 2015 (plus one special mention). All of them deviated quite a bit from Metra's 97.4% OTA and were under Metra's 95% OTA benchmark. Call it the 12 worst trains of Christmas...

(All OTA listings use Metra's definition of "late," that is, 6 minutes or more late at the train's final destination. More info on that can be found from Metra here and from me here.)

1 - Milwaukee District West: #2255

The #2255 train departs Union Station outbound Mon-Fri at 10:40pm.

OTA: 34.6%

Avg. delay: 5.6 minutes

Worst delay: 30 minutes on Monday, 12/28

2 - Union Pacific West: #30

The #30 train departs Ogilvie outbound Mon-Fri at 12:35pm.

OTA: 45.5%

Avg. delay: 3.1 minutes

Worst delay: 180 minutes on Christmas Eve.

3 - Electric District: #120

The #120 train departs University Park inbound Mon-Fri at 5:53am.

OTA: 61.5%

Avg. delay: 5.9 minutes

Worst delay: 60 minutes on Thursday, 12/03

4 - BNSF: #1245

The #1245 train departs Union Station outbound Mon-Fri at 4:02pm.

OTA: 65.0%

Avg. delay: 2 minutes

Worst delay: 18 minutes on Wednesday, 12/16

5 - Union Pacific Northwest: #634

The #634 train departs Barrington inbound Mon-Fri at 7:47am.

OTA: 68.2%

Avg. delay: 2.3 minutes

Worst delay: 11 minutes on Wednesday, 12/02.

6 - Milwaukee District North: #2132

The #2132 train departs Fox Lake inbound for Union Station Mon-Fri at 10:45am.

OTA: 76.2%

Avg. delay: 3.6 minutes

Worst delay: 14 minutes on Christmas Eve

7 - SouthWest Service: #842

The #842 train departs 179th St. (Orland Park) inbound Mon-Fri at 9:47pm.

OTA: 77.3%

Avg. delay: 2.1 minutes

Worst delay: 19 minutes on Monday, 12/14

8 - Heritage Corridor: #921

The #921 train departs Union Station outbound Mon-Fri at 6:12pm.

OTA: 80.0%

Avg. delay: 3 minutes

Worst delay: 51 minutes on Friday, 12/11

9 - Union Pacific North: #325

The #325 train departs Ogilvie outbound Mon-Fri at 12:35pm.

OTA: 80.0%

Avg. delay: 9.2 minutes

Worst delay: N/A

10 - North Central Service: #110

The #110 train departs Antioch inbound Mon-Fri at 6:49am.

OTA: 81.8%

Avg. delay: 4.1 minutes

Worst delay: 27 minutes on Monday, 12/07

11 - Rock Island District: #526

The #526 train departs Joliet inbound Mon-Fri at 6:15pm.

OTA: 81.8%

Avg. delay: 4 minutes

Worst delay: 38 minutes on New Year's Eve

12 - Special Mention: Electric District #702

The #702 train departs University Park inbound Mon-Fri at 6:55am. It managed an average delay across December of 18.6 minutes, more than 5x Metra's systemwide average.

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